Drinking water

I have been stop posting for nearly a month! Was really enjoy BUSY studying and adapting myself with kind of new life over here. We were having jet lag for nearly two weeks. Germany is 6 hours behind Malaysia, haha, this is kinda interesting for me! It was like, YAY!!! I earned extra 6 hours in my first flight from Malaysia to Germany! 6am in Germany is 12pm in Malaysia, 12am in Germany is 6am second day in Malaysia! (Luckily it's "6" hours difference, not too difficult to be calculated, haha)

I thought I wouldn't have to experience jet lag (because I misinterpret how jet lag actually works). Way back ago I thought jet lag happens when someone couldn't or didn't get enough rest on the flight, and reached the destination in day time with really sleepy and tired body or vice versa, one rested well on the flight and reached destination in night time and couldn't sleep at night. If this is the case, then I wouldn't experience jet lag in Germany, cause everyone who knows me well, knows I always fall asleep easily in any kind of transportation in most condition haha. So flight at 12am Malaysia time and reached at 7am Germany time zone, total 13hours flight, as long as I rested well during the flight, then I will not feeling drowsy the second day. That was what I expected, and yeap, I was SUPER energetic the second day! I was so excited and so nervous from the second In-flight Announcement was announced! My heart beats got really really fast and my palm was so itchy as always when I'm getting nervous! hahahaha This is the dream land that I have been dreaming for so long, and I'm going to step on it, I'm finally on my way! I'm realizing part of my dream, it's not a whole part of it, but at least I fulfilled a little part of it =D And if I keep working on it, IT will one day becomes true!

Back to jet lag: NOOOO!!! Jet lag is not only whether one gets enough sleep in the flight >< But it's also whether biological clock get disturbed, and mine was disturbed! I get so sleepy and lethargic already when it's only 10pm, and wake up at 7am everyday automatically, it sounds so healthy but I need my 10pm to 12am time so badly :( I couldn't stand the drowsiness at all, I couldn't read through more than half page of my study and then I will already fall asleep on my study desk while still holding pen in hand. I was able to stay awake doing revision back in my time as a student in UM (Or it's actually because of aging..? Not jet lag?? uhm... ) Most of the time when I go on bed, I'm asleep within 3 minutes. I will immediately drifting off after lie down. I normally will only get sleepy at 1am or 2am the second day, not at 10pm! And at 7am sharp,YES! most of it SHARP! I wake up automatically and couldn't get back to sleep anymore, this is SOOO abnormal SOOO not me!!! So, I diagnose myself with that symptoms above: I was disturbed by jet laggggg LOL

Drinking water in Germany! Growing up in Malaysia, I was used to drink filtered tap water from certain acknowledged filtration companies, and the filtered water usually goes into a different tap. Water for washing and showering is different from drinking tap water.

But here, drinking tap water is also from kitchen's basin. All in one same tap..
A local lady from a fast food store said the tap water here not good to be drink but another local man told us the tap water is okay to be drink. We also noticed, a lot of people buying bottled mineral water from convenient store/supermarket, but I'm not sure whether they are locals or boarding student like us. 
12 x 500ml bottled water cost 1,99€, and a 1.5ml cost 0,19€. No matter a carbonated bottled mineral water or without carbonate. That is not too expensive.
However, I accidentally found this website telling why Germans don't drink tap water. 
One thing I learned from the article is NEVER offer a German a glass of tap water. They won't like it. Anyway, I don't know how true is this, if I'm wrong, please correct me. 

We decided to buy bottled water from convenient store for daily consume, and boiled tap water for cooking use. But unboiled tap water is safe to be drink too, even tap water from the toilet/bathroom. (but I have and will never give it a try) So if you want to save more, drink tap water will do. 

Of course there is various company selling mineral water, but we chose the cheapest one, haha, and this one has 3 flavour. Our grocery experience here in Aachen was mostly done in a supermarket called "Norma". I think I will have another post talking about doing grocery next time, haha

"Classic" and "Medium" is carbonated / sparkling mineral water, which "Medium" is less carbonated than "Classic", and  "Still" is the regular mineral water. I don't understand why mineral water want to be in carbonated, so I googled: some said because it's not that boring as normal mineral water, some said it helps them to burp, some said carbonated mineral water is not artificially carbonated, it's naturally sparkling. 

This is how a carbonated mineral water looks like. At my first taste of the sparkling water, it's somehow strange for me, we have soda in Malaysia but we don't consume it as mineral water, and here I'm drinking soda as if I'm consuming my daily water intake. But after I've finish drinking, I started to miss the bubbling water. oops

Do not throw away the bottles after you have finish, you paid extra for bottled water when purchasing, besides the 0,19€, you'll be charged for example a 0,25€ per bottle as "Pfand" (Deposit). You can get your $ back when you return it to where you buy from.

But not all bottles are charged for a deposit. So how to recognize whether one is charged for a deposit besides looking into the receipt? You may find it at the packaging tag too,

See the "Pfandflasche"? With this tag above, you can feed the machine called "Pfandautomat" with your bottles to reclaim your deposit. The bottles are either accepted or rejected depends on whether they are in the correct machine.

 Otherwise, a bottle without "Pfandflasche" will probably have the regular recycle symbol on it. This one is not charged for deposit.

We are lucky cause staying very near to Norma where we buy bottled water from, and this is the machine we are using to reclaim Pfand. The yellow piece of paper on the machine written "Ab sofort können Sie sämtliche PET-Einwegflaschen  und Getränkedosen hier zurückgeben" meaning you can return all the "Einwegflaschen" and beverage cans here. Please be noted, there are Einwegflaschen and Mehrwegflaschen.
Einwegflaschen: the bottle is used only once and then destroyed,  and
Mehrwegflaschen: bottles will be return to producer, get cleaned and reused.
Different kind of bottle will be charged differently for Pfand.

How it works? As easy as ABC, just feed the machine with your bottles, 

After you are done feeding, press the green button, 

Take the slip, proceed to cashier counter and show them your slip, you will get back your refund. The slip can be used to pay directly for your shopped goods too. Just show them your receipt before paying and the deposit value will be deducted from the amount you have to pay.

I have 5 Leergutbon total value of 4,25€, I bought 5,37€ goods. 5,37€ deduct 4,25€, so I will only need to pay 1,12€.

Okay, that's all!

Amsterdam to Aachen

Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport is an all-in-one airport. After we collect our luggage and pass the passport control desk, we tried to look for a train station. We have already bought a train ticket on the internet in Malaysia from Amsterdam to Aachen, it cost us approximately RM110. You may buy the train ticket on the spot at airport as well, they have the ticket machine there, but I am not sure whether these machines are manned. We bought the train ticket from "B SNCB Europe", alternative, you may try DB Bahn too. We printed out the ticket and have it with us all the way. Surprisingly, there weren't any ticket checking counter nor a ticket inspector before entering the train. But this doesn't mean that you can take free ride, because they do surprise ticket inspection. If you get caught for deliberately cheating, they'll fine you heavily. 

We are total in 3, one is S.Lady and another one is Lgirl, because she look just like a little girl though we share same birth year. L.girl has prepared a small note about our train routes and station information, and we depend a lot on that note. Not only to show people the station we wanna proceed next when we couldn't pronounce it correctly, also for us to remember which station we should get down. 

From Schiphol station --> Amsterdam Zuid --> Utrecht Centraal --> Heerlen --> our final station, Aachen Hauptbahnhof (Aachen Central Station), it took approximately 3 hours.

Scenery all the way from Amsterdam to Aachen was great, green wide countryside field with trees on horizon and blue sky above, white fluffy sheep, black and white dairy cattle, horses... WOW!!! 

hahaha, sorry if I sound like an idiot, but that's really super amazing for me. =D

Some might ask why don't we spend some time at Amsterdam before travel to Germany. We need to take a placement test in Germany before our class starts, activate our Blocked Account with Deutsche Bank, register ourselves in Aachen state and others, and with 30kg weighted luggage for each, that would be so difficult to move around. Thinking back the moment 3 of us getting our 6 months luggage up to train-floor level and next station moving it down to platform, it was like a tragedy!

Aachen Hbf, our final destination

First day in Aachen was a mess, after we got our apartment key, we spent our another half day cleaning it. Two bed rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. Our apartment is just next to street, on second floor, 7 mins walking distance to city, 3 mins walking distance to market and convenient store... Just great situated. But we having difficulties in recognize the road in our first day, we thought we are living in a rural area, no shopping center, no market, no nice restaurant... we found all these the second day.

Our first meal in Germany, it cost us 4,80€. I started to miss Malaysia food so much... Nasi lemak, sambal, roti planta, 幹撈板面, 雲吞面, char kuew tew, curry mee, taufu bok, slurrrp... even maggie mee!!!

My motivation letter (English)

Yooo...Motivation Letter!

I don't know how often is a motivation letter required for a student visa application, but you will need to write a motivation letter to apply for Germany's student visa. This post isn't about "How to Write An Impressive Motivation Letter", because  first I am not an expert in this, second I do not speak beautiful English nor able to write in good grammar. But I am here to share my experience with you ;)

This is my very first time on writing a motivation letter. I had no idea how a motivation letter should be. What should I write in the letter? How long should I prepare? Two pages? Or a short one is enough? In what language shall I write? Is it appropriate to start the story from secondary school? Or earlier? and bla bla bla.. I think all newbie thought the same thing as I thought. 

 I googled for some examples on the internet, most of the motivation letter is written for a Master application. Apparently the content are not so appropriate but the letter format and their opening paragraph is quite useful for a newbie like me. If you are thinking of plagiarism, first you have to make sure you and the original writer shared same background, same experience, and you understand what he/she is trying to express in the letter. Because if you are having a tough luck that month, and are called for an interview, I believe there is > 80% the interviewer will ask you question from the text for further explanation~ imagine that! This gonna be the biggest joke if you couldn't answer them.

SO, what exactly should I write in my motivation letter?I wrote a little about myself, my education background, my study plan in Germany also my future plan after completed the courses in Germany, not to forget "WHY do you want to study in Germany" too. 
Took out a pen and a piece of paper, I jot down points that I already got, sketched a draft, and there I start my first paragraph. You'll come out with next paragraph automatically after you finish one, so do not try to squeeze out whole letter just by sitting there, you'll just waste your time. This is how I start my letter.

Anyway, I struggled for more than a week to think an answer for "Why do you want to study in Germany?" and I only got myself one reason. However I think that is the most reasonable and powerful reason why I wanna study there -- immersion is the best way of studying a language. Isn't it?

I remembered the consular of embassy once asked me over a phone call, "Why do you want to study in Germany? Why not Malaysia?"I think she was hinting me why not Goethe Institute in Malaysia. I answered her "Because of the environment..." she interrupted rudely, "This is not a solid reason" Dafuq!!! I pointed her my middle finger immediately, of course she will never know it. (Oooppsss...Hoping she is never going to read my blog) Ya, this is the one who made me struggled for more than the reason I already got for myself. If she wasn't the consular, I wanted to shout into her face! "SO?What do you think is the best solid reason? Because Germany has Volkswagen or because she's famous with beer, sausage and pork knuckle?" geez  (==")

I wrote approximately 2 pages, in German. At first I wrote in English, everything seems perfect after my cousins helped me to correct whatsoever grammar mistake or phrasing error that I did, they also helped me to make it sounds much more convincing. But I have to rewrite after my first attempt to hand in my application to German Embassy. Another consular (not the one who always talk impolitely) advised me to write in German since I graduated with degree in German Language. She said, that higher my chances to get a Visa. Sob... I thank her for her kind advice, but that isn't an easy task cause it has been a year I never practice my German after graduate, sob, ya I know, it's all my bad :(
But anyway, task is completed.

 What I wrote in my letter? I mentioned my grade point average (GPA) in SPM, STPM and university, talk about my plan, reason of why Germany and that the language center has accepted my application, accommodation all settled. Listing out enclosed documents as ending. I will post my letter in my next post, I have two versions, one in English and another one in German. 

That's all for today. Good Luck!
See ya

Opening Blocked Account

Blocked Account, in German it is "Sperrkonto".
A Blocked Account is required for all foreign students from non-EU countries to study in Germany, if you are planning on financing yourself for your studies.

You can contact any bank in Germany over the internet and obtain the information regarding opening blocked account. I opened my Blocked Account with Deutsche Bank, but not the Deutsche Bank branch in Malaysia, because Malaysia’s Deutsche Bank does not offer this service.

To be frankly, opening a blocked account is really easy, all you need is just some time, roughly three weeks to one month. That's why I strongly suggest you to start with this throughout the whole mess, instead of preparing your motivation letter or to take a new grey/white-background passport photo. You can always prepare your motivation letter or to take a brand new good-looking passport photo when waiting for the application to process.

HOW to open a blocked account
First of all, enter here --> Deutsche Bank.
Here you'll see several types of form. Please choose the one which suits your condition best. In my case, the form I downloaded was "Opening ... ≥18 years (PDF)" because im 24 already!!! screaming******

Now, fill out the form.
If you have any question regarding opening a blocked account with Deutsche Bank, please  check in their FAQ's. Their FAQs cover from "Opening of the Account" to "Closing of the Account". Very helpful.

You will have to deposit a minimum of 670EUR per month of your staying in Germany.
For example, if you are going to stay there for 1 year, you will need to deposit 8,040EUR into your blocked account. However, this amount is subject to change, please check the exact amount from the embassy. At my time, it was 659EUR per month.

If you are not going to stay there for few months like me, REMEMBER TO FILL IN A DIFFERENT AMOUNT which you require. Otherwise, the prescribed default amount (8,040EUR) applies, and you must deposit full amount of it, or else your account will remain blocked.

I was so careless and didn't fill in a different amount (T.T) I end up have to deposit a total of 7,908EUR for my stay of only 6 months. This is not good, if I couldn't get myself to study in Germany for M.A. after this, I might suffer huge losses from the exchange rate to bank. Of course I could enter M.A. in Germany!!!

Together with the completed form, a copy of your passport, confirmation letter from university/language school (if available) and a registration fees of RM60 (please confirm with the embassy again before you head to embassy, in case the price changed).

There the embassy consular will authenticate your document. You will get back your application form with a/few stamps on it and a receipt. Keep the receipt as your reference, and then post the application form to the following address:

Deutsche Bank Privat und Geschaeftskunden AG
Service Center Hamburg / Auslaendische Studenten
Alter Wall 53
Deutschland / Germany

You may keep a copy of the application form for yourself, but please remember, you may only send the ORIGINAL application form to the bank.

Wookay, that's it! Fertig!
Thank you for reading and see you in my next post ;)

Student Visa

To apply a student visa to Germany is basically not so difficult and complicated, I would say so. However there might be some circumstances that you might need to take note.

Have you found yourself some useful info already? I am happy if your answer is YES, I believe the more info you collect, the greater determination you have. When I started to gather all the information for application, I was once trying to use the loophole, well, haha, at the end I found out it is not so possible and very risky. SO, I chose the secure way, I am a good girl and not going to teach you bad thing here. LOL 

First of all, Malaysian citizens DO NOT require a visa when travelling to Germany. We may enter Germany for 90 days without a visa but may not exceed 90 days within a 6-months period. Meaning we need to leave Germany for another 3 months before we can enter again without a visa, if you are already stayed there for 90 days within 6 months.

Malaysian citizens do not require a visa when travelling to one or more of the Schengen countries for business or tourism purposes. The stay in the Schengen States, however, may not exceed 90 days within a 6-months period. This means that once you have stayed for 90 days in any of the Schengen States, there will be a waiting period of 3 months imposed before you can enter any Schengen State once more.

Before we continue, if you have ever heard about Schengen Visa, please forget about it, because Schengen Visa is not applicable for Malaysian and even though if it's applicable, a Schengen Visa is only a short-term stays up to 90 days. Still, it is not adaptable to our condition. 

Who are these Schengen States? 
These are the Schengen country:
Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland

Who needs a Schengen Visa to visit these countries?
Loooonnngggg list they have, I am only going to give you a slight view:
Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cambodia, Egypt, North Korea, Laos, Thailand, Taiwan, Turkey, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka etc. You want to know more? Here you go.
More info about Schengen visa, please click here.

I would like to give an account of myself here before I list out what documents and procedure I need to proceed to visa application, because additional documents may be required for your condition, since this whole mess thing is a case to case basis. Thus I would suggest you to ask the consular in person, to avoid any misapprehension.

I hold a B.A degree in German language (Level B1), going to Germany for a 6-months intensive course (a total of 4 modules) at a language school & full payment is made, I have also booked myself an accommodation with a company & deposited a down payment.


How long does a processing of visa application will take?
According to the Embassy's website, it's 2 to 3 months (=口=) dafuq???
Yes, I do not understand why 2 to 3 months too. But if you want to be on the safe side, just follow the rules, start everything 2 to 3 months earlier.

I were asked to prepare a list of document as below:

• 2 duly Completed Residence Permit Forms (Application form)
• 2 Passport-size Photographs (IMPORTANT: Grey or White background)
• 6 months validity Passport
• 2 Copies of Passport
• 2 Copies of Admission Letter for a Language Course in Germany
• 2 Copies of Proof of German Language (My degree certificate)
• 2 Copies of Transcript
• 2 Copies of Motivation Letter (in German language)
• 2 Copies of Financial Document

and because I mentioned the accommodation in Germany is booked and deposit is paid, I provide an additional document, which is the confirmation letter from the accommodation company, in 2 Copies too.

Did you notice that I highlighted the Financial Document?

Yes, this is the most important part out of all, and you should start with preparing the financial document instead of other, cause it takes time, for approximately 3 weeks to one month.

There are 3 types of financial document:

1. Proof of Scholarship (amount of scholarship stated in EURO,-)
2. Verpflichtungserklärung (Formal Obligation) - Proof of financial stability for        ,- EURO in a year. Financial Documents has to be laid out by the Sponsor, Bank Statements, Salary Slips, Savings Account Book - from the last 3 months
3. Blocked Account (Sperrkonto) in Germany

In my condition, i do not have a scholarship for my language course, and I was advised to go for the third option, which is Blocked Account.

Wookay! I have to stop now, please do not expect me to finish all in one post, that's gonna kill me, or make me blind. I will stop at here for today and will see you again in my next post. 

Peace :)

Next: Blocked Account

Let's GO!

I faced a lot of troubles and obstacles on the process of application for a student visa to Germany. I found out there is very limited information and sources for a Malaysian student to seek for advice or info on student visa application especially when it comes to the procedure, hence I decided to create this space, to share my experiences with you. Me n my friend (i call her sexy lady, S.lady) together we are working and do not have a lot of annual leave, I have only 8 days per year...sob..that's why it comes to me to think that making clear on the procedure is so damn important! You do not want to travel back and forth to the embassy, do you?

I am a Malaysian, completed my B.A in German language and linguistic from University of Malaya. I dream to be an interpreter, which most probably oscillated between English and German. TestDaF as a proof of German language proficiency is needed as an admission requirement to enter M.A Conference Interpretation in Germany. However my German language proficiency at level B1 is inadequate to meet the requirement.

I always believe the best way to learn the language is to immerse oneself in the native-speaking environment, that is the biggest reason why I am not taking intensive language course in Goethe Institute in Malaysia. I realized I am not able to speak like a native even though I have been learning German language for 3 years as a full time student, which mean I have German classes everyday for 3 years continuously and prepared my FYP in German. I only have the chance to get in touch with the language under a simulated German-speaking  environment in the university. Thus I believe the same will happen in Goethe Institute in Malaysia.

WELCOME to all, at this moment, I have just send in my visa application form and other related documents to the embassy 2 days ago which is on 4th Sept 2012. Will I be granted a student visa? Yes please, I am really NERVOUS for god sake!